Best winter destinations for non-skiers?
 

Hello,
My husband and I are planning a short getaway (likely a long weekend) at the end of February or early March, and are trying to figure out a great destination. I'll be six months pregnant with our second child, so skiing is out, and I have no desire to try to put a bathing suit on when pregnant, so the beach is out as well. :)
Our son will not be coming with us (this is our first trip without him!), so we're limiting the location to the continental US. We live in Chicago but will be moving to the East Coast this summer, so we thought we'd take advantage of our current location to do something in the western half of the country. We'd really just like a relaxing long weekend in a place that is interesting to walk around, has great food, and ideally nice scenery. We thought about embracing the winter weather and going to a ski area that has a nice town associated with it, and hanging out in the town rather than skiing. I've read that Park City is nice, as well as some of the areas in Colorado.
We're also open to interesting cities - we haven't been to Portland, Oregon before - would that be nice in the winter?
Any suggestions would be hugely helpful - we've been vaguely planning to do this trip for a while, and I just realized that February is coming up quickly!!
Thanks for your help!

Head for Santa Fe for good food, museums, charning ambiance, it might be cool but probably not freezing in March.

If you want warmer weather, try Tucson.

Don't limit yourself to just Portland. Fly to PDX and rent a car. Head up US 30 to Astoria. Get on US 101 south staying somewhere on the coast (Cannon Beach?).
Continue south on 101 possibly as far as Coos Bay. Come back to Reedsport and take route 38 east. About 4 miles east of Reedsport is the Dean Creek Elk viewing area. Hopefully you will see some Roosevelt elk. Take 38 all the way back to I-5.
Head back toward Portland. If you have the time, take US 26 east to Government Camp and then route 35 north to Hood River to get a great view of Mt. Hood and the Columbia Gorge. I-84 back into Portland.
My DW and I are planning our winter get away to Coos Bay over President's day weekend.
Come back to Oregon when you can stay a little longer.

Fly to Denver and rent a car then drive to Vail, CO or Aspen, CO for a few days. They are both great destinations even if you don't ski. The snow is fun to see and walk around in. Enjoy your trip.

I was just looking at a winter special for Monument Valley. It is as "West" as you can get anymore. It is a little off the beaten path and you'd need to drive a ways from any city you fly into, but a night at the View hotel, or Gouldings Lodge with a valley tour is sounding really good to me.

There are plenty of beautiful places in Oregon to visit and might i add this isnt bathing suit weather so seeing the coast isnt such a bad idea. Joe's crab shack is one of the best places for great food too. They have the aquarium, the wax museum, and riplies believe it or not too. They have wonderful little mom and pop diners if your looking for something slightly low key and its always great flying a kite on the beach your son would love that i bet. they also have the capes as well. I for one LOVE the various shops in Lincoln city they offer pretty much anything you could think of and there are plenty of candy shops as well. They have whale watching in coos bay and since you mention Portland there are LOADS of things to do there.

Palm Springs might be a nice warm alternative - and hey - if you haven't been - Vegas is fun.

Or - San Diego even. :)

I'd go to NM, AZ or California. Portland might be okay, just seems kind of dreary to me (having been there in March, just imagining it as it was kind of dreary when I was there in the summer).

You could obviously go to Florida or New Orleans. You don't have to swim in Florida, lots else to do and see, or just walking with nice scenery on the beach as it would be too cold in the water anyway in most places I can think of.

sorry, I forgot you wanted the West, although depending where you are going on the East Coast, New Orleans may not be so close. Still would not choose Oregon, but loved Santa Fe and Phoenix is very nice and I love California, also.

Palm Springs or Tucson.

Park City has lots of everything, even for non-skiers. Art galleries, excellent restaurants, spas, shopping, sleigh rides, Utah Olympic Park (among the more tame options).

It's 40 minutes drive from the airport, very scenic!

With just a long weekend available, I would opt for an easy, quick drive destination.

How about one of the SFs - Santa Fe or San Francisco?

Lee Ann

Park City is mostly uphill with snow and icy. Probably not a good place for a 6 mo pg woman. I would opt for Tucson. Especially after this past weekend in Chicago. Short flight from Chicago. Or someplace like San Antonia.

I went to Sedona a few weeks ago and it was the perfect non-snowy winter spot.